Old Hat
Jekyll1886: Dr. Weir wore an emerald-green waistcoat this day. He was seated in a chair, waiting to meet with Dr. Lanyon. He had been there for quite some time now. Anticipation had given way to impatience, which in turn had been succeeded by boredom, acceptance, and, finally, a touch of sleepiness. He slouched back in the chair, his head resting against the wall. The scene before him shifted. A lavish parlor, a locked door, and a supremely unpleasant little man. He looked as if he had the world by the tail and thought it owed him a living, to boot. He was kicking a dark but lively bundle of cloth on the floor, cursing all the while. Whatever was under the fabric eventually ceased moaning and moving. The man took a jeweled dagger from elsewhere in the room and unsheathed it. He raised it above his head, ready to plunge the blade into the dark mass to make sure the deed was done. Suddenly, the pile of cloth rose up to reveal an equally small individual, battered but irate; he flung his cloak in the first man's face to obscure his vision, then tackled him against a wall and lay hold of his throat. Lewis started awake. "Oh, for pity's sake, not this again..." he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Must've fallen asleep." Yet the scene continued to play out before him. A third man lay gagged and bound in the corner of the room, helplessly watching events unfold. He bore a familial resemblance to Weir, but was perhaps a decade or so older, his hair a lighter shade of brown, his build more substantial. His eyes were a beautiful kelly green. Weir's father or uncle, perhaps. The second man incapacitated the first, then took his time with him, committing all manner of violence and indecencies upon him. Finally, he laid hold of the very knife that'd been intended for him, and put it to the first man's throat. The third man had finally managed to chew through his gag. He locked eyes with the second. "You don't need to do this!" he cried. "I know he's a cad and a fraud and a liar," he acknowledged of the first man, the initial assailant, "but he doesn't deserve this!" "You and I both know that's not true," the second man rebuffed him, boring into him with eyes so dark they seemed to swallow light itself. "He's had this coming for a long, long time." Lewis yawned. "I must be well and fast asleep," he observed. Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer opened the trap door and poked her head in. "Forgive my interruption but have you seen a large brown cat?" She asked nervously. Jekyll1886: "Can't say that I have, no, sorry." Her appearance surprised him. "What a strange dream this is turning out to be..." Miss-Dreamerkat: "Dream? This is real" Dreamer said. Jekyll1886: "Are you sure?" asked Lewis with a hint of worry. He stood. "I could swear I've dreamed this before, or something like it." But, no, there was the chair he'd been sitting in, there was the door to Lanyon's office...and, existing at one and the same time, there was that parlor room, real as day. The second man slit the throat of the first as if it were the most natural thing in the world. This drew a quick intake of breath from Lewis. He looked a little pale as he glanced toward Dreamer. "You have my apologies, miss," he managed. "My dreams aren't always pleasant. Still, there was no need for you to see that. To be honest, I've no idea why you even can." He pinched himself. "No, not asleep," he observed. "How is all this out here instead of in my head?" Miss-Dreamerkat: "I've seen worse. I've seen people go mad and do horrible things to themselves that would make this" She pointed to the slit throat. "Look like a pinch" Jekyll1886: Weir visibly relaxed. "Oh thank God," he said, relieved. "I never know how anyone's going to react around here. So many unknowns." He shook his head. The murderer continued to mutilate the corpse, while the third man wept silently on the floor. "Anyhow," continued Lewis, ignoring the scene, "Lewis Weir. Nice to meet you, even if it is under such strange circumstances." Miss-Dreamerkat: "Dreamer Jekyll" Dreamer said shaking when the scene shifted showing a brown haired girl in her prison cell look horribly depressed and thorns wrapped around her arms and legs. She lay in a way that she could see the person in the cell diagonal from her. Jekyll1886: "Well, Dreamer-- Oh my, this isn't mine," he interrupted himself, taking in the new scene as he made a mental note of Dreamer's last name. "What the devil is going on?" Miss-Dreamerkat: The girl lay there looking anguished, her face had started to look sunken the markings on her voice bright against her pale skin. One eye was gray and the other yellow, the thorns bright red agianst her skin look painful. Dreamer in the present stepped back. The past one was in the same clothes as dreamer. Jekyll1886: Lewis looked from one Dreamer to the other, putting the pieces together. "Is she...you?" he asked. Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer nodded turning away as if not to look. Jekyll1886: "Good Lord, what is that place? You poor dear! However did this happen to you?" Miss-Dreamerkat: "prison" Dreamer said calmly the memory/ scene faded. Jekyll1886: "Prison?" Weir echoed, disbelief patent in his tone. He'd assumed someone had kidnapped her and held her captive. "Not that one can always tell by looking, but...you don't exactly seem the criminal type," he observed. He wondered what crime she could have possibly committed to warrant such inhumane treatment. Or perhaps authorities in this dimension were much harsher with their punishments than he'd been led to believe. Miss-Dreamerkat: "I was taken to the worst prison in the multiverse" Dreamer said. "For constant travel through it by ways that are unnatural and tear in to the fabric of space" Jekyll1886: "Oh, dear." He counted himself lucky his acquaintances had used a method to get him here that worked with the natural warp and woof of space-time rather than against it. "I wasn't even aware there was such an...institution. Whoever is in charge of it?" Miss-Dreamerkat: "The guardian of the multiverse" Dreamer said. Jekyll1886: "Guardian of the..." he trailed off. It was quite a bit to take in. Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer nodded. Jekyll1886: After a few moments, a question burbled up into Lewis's mind. "How, pray tell, does one become a 'Guardian of the Multiverse'? What are his--or her, or its--qualifications? And who appointed it to such a post?" It seemed very unfair that innocent people might, Weir supposed, be punished by such a being for violating laws they never even knew existed. Miss-Dreamerkat: "there has only been one for all eternity. " dreamer said. "he is made for the job" Jekyll1886: "Hm," said Weir, troubled. "Made by whom?" Miss-Dreamerkat: "Made by a solar emplosion or something i don't know." Dreamer said. "I don't care either" She said bitterly. Jekyll1886: "I'm sorry, Dreamer. I don't mean to upset you. You've obviously been through more than anyone should have to endure. If I ask questions, it's because I feel for you; I feel an injustice has been done, and that doesn't set well with me. I ask because I want to know who punishes the punisher--because, if I were in charge, I would surely punish him for what he did to you. There needs to be accountability on his end, or he's nothing but a bully. Who is his boss? God? Or does he hold himself as supreme over every creature? Are they to be toyed with at his whim, while he shirks any moral responsibility by calling such cruel treatment 'justice'? Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's right. And if I ask his origins, don't doubt that it's with an eye toward possibly finding his weakness." Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer let out a laugh, a cold laugh that echoed though the room. "I know I did wrong! I had to pay the price! He was doing his job!" Jekyll1886: "In the world from which I come--a perfectly mundane, human realm--there are laws against cruel punishments. Are you honestly telling me a 'Guardian of the Multiverse' is less enlightened than a mean assemblage of mortals? We had a group of people in our world who caused the Second World War and put millions of people to death. They, too, many of them argued, were simply 'doing their job'. In the end, they were convicted of crimes against humanity. I fear such a crime has been committed against you. To lock a person up is one thing. To torment them unnecessarily is merely an extraneous indulgence in malevolence. Evil often masquerades as righteousness." Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer sighed shaking her head. "I tore the very fabric of space more times than i can count." She said. "You're high sense of justice will be your downfall" Jekyll1886: He laughed. "It already has been," he confessed with a rueful smile. "Though it may do again. But tell me: Should I care nothing for what happened to you--what has doubtless happened and will continue to happen to countless others? Power is a thing easily abused." Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer shook her head. "Best not question it" Jekyll1886: "I see we have a difference of opinion here," he said with a chuckle. "I can no more cease my questioning than summer can resist giving way to autumn. It's simply my nature. But if you don't want to answer them further...that, I understand, and will respect." Miss-Dreamerkat: "Look the past is just that the past. I wish not to dwell on this. I have accepted what's happened and i don't want those seeking justice to meddle in areas they shouldn't" Dreamer said firmly. Jekyll1886: "In that case, I will certainly not meddle in areas I shouldn't on your behalf. You have my word," he promised, utterly serious. "I had no wish to upset you, Dreamer, yet I fear I've done just that. You have my sincerest apologies." Miss-Dreamerkat: "It's fine" Dreamer said pivoting and then leaving without another word. Obtained From Nightmare, or Reality? Nightmare, or Reality cont. Category:Main Plot Category:Halloween Special: Nightmare or Reality?